1990–91 Phoenix Suns season

1990–91 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons
Arena Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record 55–27 (.671)
Place Division: 3rd (Pacific)
Conference: 4th (Western)
Playoff finish West First Round
(eliminated 1-3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television KUTP
Radio KTAR
Phoenix Suns seasons
< 1989–90 1991–92 >

The 1990–91 Phoenix Suns season was the team's 23rd season in the NBA. They ended the season with a 55-27 record. For the season opener, the Suns traveled to Japan to play their two first games against the Utah Jazz at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, making history by being the two first teams in U.S. professional sport to play a regular season game outside of North America.[1] They would face again in the first round of the playoffs, with the Suns losing in 4 games.[2]

Contents

Draft picks

Main article: 1990 NBA Draft

First round pick Jayson Williams did not reach an agreement with team president Jerry Colangelo over his rookie contract, and after months of discussion Phoenix sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a conditional first round selection in the 1994 NBA Draft.[3] Rights to Miloš Babić were traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the rights of Stefano Rusconi.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 21 Jayson Williams PF/C  United States St. John's
2 31 Negele Knight G  United States Dayton
2 48 Cedric Ceballos F  United States Cal State Fullerton
2 50 Miloš Babić C  Yugoslavia
( Serbia)		 Tennessee Tech

Roster

Phoenix Suns 1990-91 roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From
F 3 Battle, Kenny (waived) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Illinois
F/C 2 Carroll, Joe Barry 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Purdue
F 23 Ceballos, Cedric 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Cal State Fullerton
F/C 24 Chambers, Tom 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Utah
G 14 Hornacek, Jeff 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Iowa State
G/F 8 Johnson, Eddie (to SEA) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Illinois
G 7 Johnson, Kevin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) California
G 32 Knight, Negele 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Dayton
C 28 Lang, Andrew 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Arkansas
F 51 Lockhart, Ian 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Tennessee
G/F 9 Majerle, Dan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Central Michigan
F 35 McDaniel, Xavier (from SEA) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Wichita State*
F 45 Nealy, Ed 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 238 lb (108 kg) Kansas State
F/C 34 Perry, Tim 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Temple
F 31 Rambis, Kurt 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Santa Clara
F/C 41 West, Mark 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Old Dominion
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Depth chart

Pos. Starter Bench Reserve Inactive
C Mark West Andrew Lang Joe Barry Carroll
PF Tom Chambers Kurt Rambis Ed Nealy Tim Perry
Ian Lockhart
SF Xavier McDaniel Cedric Ceballos
SG Jeff Hornacek Dan Majerle
PG Kevin Johnson Negele Knight

Pre-season

1990 Pre-season Game Log: 7-1
# Date Opponent Score Location Record
1 October 11 Denver Nuggets W 186-123 Arizona State University Activity Center 1-0[4]
2 October 16 Utah Jazz W 98-92 Salt Palace 2-0[5]
3 October 18 Cleveland Cavaliers W 111-103 Arizona State University Activity Center 3-0[6]
4 October 20 Golden State Warriors W 128-124 El Paso, TX 4-0[7]
5 October 23 Cleveland Cavaliers W 119-114 Richfield Coliseum 5-0[8]
6 October 24 Milwaukee Bucks L 112-116 Arizona State University Activity Center 5-1[9]
7 October 26 Indiana Pacers W 109-107 Market Square Arena 6-1[10]
8 October 27 Chicago Bulls W 117-110 Chicago Stadium 7-1[3]

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Portland Trail Blazers 63 19 .768 — 36–5 27–14 18-10
x-Los Angeles Lakers 58 24 .707 5 33–8 25-16 19-9
x-Phoenix Suns 55 27 .671 8 32–9 23-18 17–11
x-Golden State Warriors 44 38 .537 19 30–11 14–27 13–15
x-Seattle SuperSonics 41 41 .500 22 28-13 13–28 12-16
Los Angeles Clippers 31 51 .378 32 23–18 8-33 10-18
Sacramento Kings 25 57 .305 38 24-17 1–40 9–19
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Portland Trail Blazers 63 19 .768 –
2 y-San Antonio Spurs 55 27 .671 8
3 x-Los Angeles Lakers 58 24 .707 5
4 x-Phoenix Suns 55 27 .671 8
5 x-Utah Jazz 54 28 .659 9
6 x-Houston Rockets 52 30 .634 11
7 x-Golden State Warriors 44 38 .537 19
8 x-Seattle SuperSonics 41 41 .500 22
9 Orlando Magic 31 51 .378 32
10 Los Angeles Clippers 31 51 .378 32
11 Minnesota Timberwolves 29 53 .354 34
12 Dallas Mavericks 28 54 .341 35
13 Sacramento Kings 25 57 .305 38
14 Denver Nuggets 20 62 .244 43
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Playoffs

Player statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

All-Star Game

Awards

Records

Transactions

Players Added

Draft[13]

Free agency

 Players Lost

Released

Waived

Free agency

Trades

September 28, 1990[15]
 To Phoenix Suns
Conditional second round pick for 1993		 To Washington Bullets
Mike Morrison
October 28, 1990
 To Phoenix Suns
Conditional first round pick for 1994		 To Philadelphia 76ers
Jayson Williams
December 7, 1990[16]
 To Phoenix Suns
Xavier McDaniel		 To Seattle SuperSonics
Eddie Johnson
Conditonal first round picks for 1991 and 1994

References

  1. ^ Suns Set To Begin NBA Slate, Casa Grande Dispatch, November 2, 1990
  2. ^ At crunch time, Jazz crunched Suns -- and maybe critics, Deseret News, May 3, 1991
  3. ^ a b Suns Ship Williams for 1st-Round Pick, Casa Grande Dispatch, October 29, 1990
  4. ^ Ceballos Sparkles, Suns Scorch Nuggets, Casa Grande Dispatch, October 12, 1990
  5. ^ Ceballos Fuels Suns Comeback, Casa Grande Dispatch, October 17, 1990
  6. ^ Battle, Suns Sink Cavaliers, Casa Grande Dispatch, October 19, 1990
  7. ^ Suns Subdue Warriors, Improve Record to 4-0, Casa Grande Dispatch, October 22, 1990
  8. ^ Suns Overhaul Cavs, Stretch Record to 5-0, Casa Grande Dispatch, October 24, 1990
  9. ^ Scoreboard -- Basketball, Casa Grande Dispatch, October 25, 1990
  10. ^ Chambers' Jumper Sinks Pacers, Casa Grande Dispatch, October 27, 1990
  11. ^ PRO BASKETBALL; Suns Score 107 in First Half, The New York Times, November 10, 1990
  12. ^ Suns go down big in playoff opener, The Daily Courier, April 26, 1991
  13. ^ a b Knight, Ceballos sign with Suns, Mohave Daily Miner, September 5, 1990
  14. ^ Bulls lose Nealy to Suns, can't get Davis, Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1990
  15. ^ Bullets Trade Pick For D.C.'s Morrison;Suns Get 1993 Second-Rounder for Guard, The Washington Post, September 29, 1990
  16. ^ Sonics Trade X-Man to Suns, The Hour, December 8, 1990

See also

1990 NBA Draft • All-Star Game • Playoffs • Finals • Transactions
Eastern
Western
1960s 1968–69
1970s 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79
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1990s 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
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Hall of Famers
Key Personnel
Owner: Robert Sarver · President and CEO: Rick Welts · General Manager: Lance Blanks · Head Coach: Alvin Gentry · Voice of the Suns: Al McCoy
Head Coaches
Kerr • Colangelo • Fitzsimmons • van Breda Kolff • Colangelo • MacLeod • Van Arsdale • Wetzel • Fitzsimmons • Westphal • Fitzsimmons • Ainge • Skiles • Johnson • D'Antoni • Porter • Gentry
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Championships (2)
1976 • 1993
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Championships (6)
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Media
TV: FS Arizona • My 45 • Radio: Arizona Sports • Announcers: Gary Bender • Tom Leander • Scott Williams • Eddie Johnson • Al McCoy • Tim Kempton